Whole Foods’ John Mackey Honored as Winner in Retail/Consumer and Overall
Palm Springs, CA, November 22, 2003—John P. Mackey, Chairman, President and CEO of Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market, has been named the ** 2003 Overall National Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year**. Mackey was recognized for his outstanding entrepreneurial achievement of successfully building Whole Foods into the world’s largest retailer of natural and organic food.
Mackey was honored as both the overall national winner and the winner in the retail and consumer products category at a gala event on Saturday, November 22, 2003, in Palm Springs, Calif. Other award recipients in ten industry categories were also announced. All Entrepreneur Of The Year winners were selected from 400 regional award recipients by an independent panel of judges. In addition to being named the overall Entrepreneur Of The Year in the United States, Mackey will join entrepreneurs from around the world for the 2004 World Entrepreneur Of The Year program which takes place in Monte Carlo in June of 2004.
Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFMI) has experienced phenomenal growth since its original store opened in 1980. At the time, there were less than half a dozen natural food supermarkets in the United States.** Today, Whole Foods has 149 stores across the country (expected to double by 2010), nearly $3 billion in sales and a strong corporate culture that drives its success**. Behind the chain’s growth is John Mackey, an unconventional entrepreneur who brought the natural foods concept to the competitive supermarket business.
Mackey’s background and socially conscious approach led to his unlikely road to success. After dropping out of three Texas colleges in the '70s, he moved into a vegetarian co-op where he focused on reading philosophy, cooking natural foods and being outdoors. Living in the co-op awakened his food consciousness and set the stage for what would eventually become Whole Foods.
In 1978, Mackey and his then girlfriend opened Safer Way, a vegetarian health food store, with an initial investment of $45,000 borrowed from friends and family. Neither had any business training and the store suffered financially while they learned the ropes of running a business. Realizing growth was necessary, Mackeysecured an investment and persuaded the owner of a small natural foods store to merge with him. The business opened in 1980 in Austin, Texas, as Whole Foods Natural Market. It was the first supermarket-style natural foods store in the country with **10,000 square feet of space and a staff of 19 people. **
Whole Foods was an immediate success. However, a spring flood a year later left the store under eight feet of water. Several customers and employees voluntarily pitched in to clean up the mess and Mackey’s bank worked out necessary arrangements to get the business back on its feet. In 30 days the store reopened. The astonishing commitment from Mackey’s customers made him realize the potential for his natural foods supermarket and the need to expand. He opened a second store that turned profitable within a year, thus beginning the company’s expansion spree. By 1991, Whole Foods moved into Houston, Dallas, Louisiana, Northern California and North Carolina by acquiring and building new stores.
In 1992, with 12 stores and $92 million in sales, Whole Foods went public on Nasdaq to help fund its growth strategy. Since its IPO, Whole Foods has expanded aggressively with 25% of its growth from acquisitions that enabled it to gain entry into southern California, Boston and Washington DC. The company’s expansion has helped to fuel continued growth in the natural products industry. With a store base generally concentrated in the top 25 metropolitan markets, Whole Foods is well positioned as Americans shift to healthier lifestyles.
Underlying Whole Foods’ success is Mackey’s strong commitment to the environment. On a global basis, the company supports organic farming – the best method for promoting sustainable agriculture and protecting the environment and farm workers. Locally, Whole Foods is actively involved in its communities by supporting food banks, sponsoring neighborhood events, compensating the company’s team members for community service work and holding “Five percent days” when that amount of sales for a particular day is given to a local not-for-profit organization.
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